Inexplicably
by Philosophy Blue
Summary: Hermione attends prodigious Hogwarts High on a scholarship. Top of the class and poor to boot, she infuriates Draco Malfoy, popular but no genius. He targets her for his bullying, enjoying isolating her from the rest of the students. One day, he finally breaks her. But instead of being triumphant, the young Malfoy is left, inexplicably, desperately trying to fit her back together.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, I'm back! Well, most of you guys don't recognize me, mostly because I mainly write Inuyasha fanfiction. Well, here I am, trying my hand at Harry Potter fics! I'm testing a pairing that I thought would always be sweet; Dramione! (Draco and Hermione) Throughout the series, I kept noticing these little tidbits that seemed to hint at a crush Malfoy had on Hermione. Well... Enjoy! :)**

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Draco Malfoy scowled at the paper his teacher handed back to him. Clearly marked in red pencil was the dooming number 72. His father would kill him. Pushing the morbid thought aside, he shoved the graded test in his binder, not caring if he tore or crumpled it with his roughness, and took out a fat black Sharpie. He started doodling on the desktop, not caring that written on the Sharpie was _permanent marker_. From the tip of the pen flowed a beautiful, twisting coil of minute scales, each one linking with another perfectly, like the parts of a suit of armor. His pale gray eyes kept wandering from the twining serpent crest he was designing, though. He couldn't focus on his vandalism. Why, dammit? He finally stopped wrenching his eyes back to his drawing, giving up to the inevitable, and let them wander where they pleased. And he wished he hadn't.

It was the Granger girl. The teacher was handing her paper back to her with a rarely seen smile, and the young Malfoy couldn't help but notice the big red 100 scrawled at the top. His face darkened ominously. How dare that filthy Mudblood get a better score than he, whose blood flowed as pure as anyone could boast? His fists clenched and unclenched, and his knuckled cracked loudly. With a start, the Granger girl turned her head to stare at him, hazel brown eyes wide. He sneered back at her, and she gave him a weird look before turning her gaze back up to the front. That just made him more angry. He'd show her. He'd show her that she was beneath him in every way. He spent the rest of the period dreaming up suitable punishments for the Mudblood.

When class ended, he purposely waited until only he and Granger were the only students left in the room. It was a pain, having to wait as she gathered up all her textbooks. She was painstakingly slow, and as she piled them all into her bookbag and lifted it with an air of martyrdom, he noticed how her face and muscles strained with the effort of hefting a good round ten heavy textbooks. He smirked and got up slowly as she made her way to the door. Just as she passed through, he sped up and bumped her hard on the shoulder with his as he passed. Just as he'd hoped, the bag of books fell to the floor- -right on her toe. She bit her lip.

Malfoy was disappointed. Why didn't she cry out, or even glare at him? "Filthy Mudblood," he drawled, smirking. That made her look up, and glare she did.

"Shut up, Malfoy," she said fiercely, gathering up her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder once more. "I don't want to hear your voice today."

He smirked and followed her as she stalked away. "That was a pathetic diss, Granger. What, wasted all your brains on that stupid test? You shouldn't have. Don't have much to spare, do you?"

She laughed at that, a mocking laugh that enflamed Draco's ears. "Please, tell me more on the subject of stupidity. You're an expert, right?" She cast him a scornful look.

Ears burning, he glared at the back of her head. "At least my family has money." Her back stiffened slightly, he noticed; or was it the weight of her books?

"Money doesn't pay for everything," she said loftily. "As you've proven many times over, certainly not brains. At least _I_ know what an O looks like on my report card. What do you know? Oh yeah, T's and P's."

He stared at her angrily, then said in a very low voice, "You're going to get yours. You've had it coming for a while now, Granger."

She glanced back at him, hazel brown eyes cold and emotionless. "It may be coming," she said calmly. "But it won't be coming from you."

Malfoy's palm itched. It was practically begging to be laid across her face in a stinging slap. But pale gray eyes met hazel brown in an icy battle, and he stayed his hand. "We'll see about that," he said quietly. Very, very quietly.

She laughed in his face. "You don't scare me, Malfoy. You're just an overgrown ferret. Spoiled and pampered. You know what's coming to you? A good spanking."

Now it was his face that was heating up. Without another word, Draco turned and stalked away, painfully aware of her scathing gaze on his retreating back. _Oh, it's coming. It's coming_. Because he, Draco Malfoy, had a plan. A very malicious one at that, too.

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 **By the way, people, this is a regular, preppy boarding school, no magic. By Mudblood, I don't mean Muggle, I mean coming from the working class. Pureblood means coming from first class.**


	2. Chapter 2

For Draco, his unhealthy obsession had started with mere curiosity, as many things do.

On the first day of school, he had hung out in a corner of the courtyard that was reserved just for him and his friends, aka the A-List. They'd been checking out the new chicks, seeing if there was anything good.

"That Penelope Clearwater grew a pair of legs this summer," remarked Blaise.

Malfoy scoffed. "She's a half."

"Yeah."

Pansy Parkinson sidled up to him, beady eyes shining with worship. "Heyyyyy," she purred, winding her arm around his.

Draco's face twitched as he smoothly extracted his arm from her hold. "Parkinson," he said coolly.

"How was your summer? Mine was loooonely with you," crooned Pansy.

He felt his lip curl with disgust. The pug-faced girl seemed to think that he would tolerate her clinginess; he would not. A-List she may be, but his girlfriend she was not. "My summer was quite fine." _Without you_ , he added silently. He turned back to his friends to see that they were staring into the distance with a strange look in their eyes; one that usually shone in the eyes of hunting dogs when they had scented their prey. "What is it?" he asked, but they didn't answer. Frowning, he followed his gaze, and _whoa._ There she was.

Walking into the courtyard, her uniform shifting around her perfect body. Books that were held to her chest but did nothing to hide it. Her hair was like molten caramel with strands of chocolate twined in, and her eyes... Large and innocent, like a fawn's. A chick.

Malfoy smirked. She wouldn't last a day at Hogwarts. But meanwhile, he planned to find out exactly who her family was. She had to be new; he would have noticed her before otherwise, no question. He started off and stopped when he realized that his friends were flanking him. "Beat it," he hissed.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him. "Is she your girlfriend? No? Then she's fair game." He disappeared quickly into the crowd, the rest of the A-list boys following him into the fray.

Cursing, Draco hurried after them, determined to make the new girl his.

-oOo-

Hermione blinked. A second ago, she had been standing all alone, and now she was surrounded by hot guys. Well, mostly hot guys. "Um... Do you need anything?" She flushed when they snickered. That came out wrong. "I mean... I have somewhere to be, so if you have something to say, say it."

A handsome boy with ebony skin stepped forward. His face screamed _arrogant_. "You're new here."

"Yeah." She shifted awkwardly. What was going on? Some kind of ritual or hazing or something?

"What's your family name?"

"Why's it matter?" Oh no, she couldn't believe she had just said that. She hadn't meant to sound so belligerent.

The boy narrowed his eyes. "It's mandatory info."

Hermione narrowed her eyes right back at him. "And who are you to ask me?"

They stared at each other, neither willing to back down, until another boy, breaking free from the crowd, caught her attention. She had to keep her eyes from widening, because _damn_ he was hot. Ash blond hair and pale gray eyes, that great physique... She felt like she was going to melt when he smiled at her.

"Draco Malfoy."

She took his offered hand and shook it. She knew who he was; the heir to the Malfoy fortune. She couldn't believe she was meeting him. "Hermione. Hermione Granger."

Malfoy tipped his head to the side. "Hermione. That's a pretty name." He didn't mention how he had never heard of the Granger family. Blaise, damn him, took care of that for him.

"Granger? What kind of pureblood name is that?"

Hermione's jaw clenched. So that was what they were after. "I'm not a pureblood," she said stiffly.

Draco's smile faded. Not a pureblood? "Half-blood then?" he hastened to ask, hoping she would answer in the affirmative. She had to, or else their future relationhip, which he had mapped out in his imagination quite thoroughly, would be over before it had started. His heart sank as she slowly shook her head, sending her waves bouncing.

"Mudblood," drawled Zabini, eyes hardening. The A-list boys were murmuring among themselves. Draco didn't know what to say. And he certainly was shocked when the girl snarled and slapped the dark-skinned boy.

Zabini Blaise stepped back, coal irises flashing as his cheeks colored, a rare sight. "How dare you, you filthy Mudblood?"

Hermione glared back at him. No longer were her eyes large and innocent; they were narrowed and full of fire. "You will never call me that again."

"Correction," drawled Zabini, grabbing her shoulders and slamming her into the nearest will. "That is your name. Always has been, always will be." He could hear the crowd forming around them, and he suppressed a grin.

Draco watched as the girl struggled in Blaise's grasp like a wildcat. Damn, didn't she have any sense? She should just keep her head down and hope she wasn't noticed too much, now that everyone knew what her blood status was.

"Let go of me!" raged Hermione. She dug her nails into his forearms, and with slitted eyes, he released her. She landed on her feet, furious. "Don't ever touch me again." His face twisted into a sneer, and as if to spite her, he reached out to grab her again. She dodged and retreated until she felt arms push her back toward him. She glanced back. The stupid 'hot' guys who had surrounded her earlier were making sure she couldn't escape. Asses. She turned back to face Zabini, dreading the confrontation that was sure to follow, but was saved by the bell. The crowd remained fixated on them for a couple more seconds, then reluctantly broke up as people began to head to their first classes. With a final, defiant glare, she spun on her heel and stalked away.

The A-list boys ignored the stream of students and formed into a huddle, Zabini at its center. "From now on, she is nothing but mud," spat the boy. "Mud to trodden on and stomped down. No mercy. Understand?"

There was a general mumble of consent. Malfoy said nothing, frowning. Too bad she was a Mudbloood, because he felt like he could use a girl with fire like hers.


End file.
